April 7 vs. Ottawa Senators at Capital One Arena
Time: 6:00 p.m.
TV: MNMT
Stream: MonSports.net/Stream
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, Capitals Radio 24/7
Ottawa Senators (33-39-4)
Washington Capitals (36-30-10)
The Caps continue their late season push for a playoff berth on Sunday evening when they host the Ottawa Senators at Capital One Arena. Prior to Sunday’s game, the Caps will hold an on-ice ceremony to honor defenseman John Carlson, who became the first defenseman in Washington’s franchise history to skate in 1,000 games with the team. Carlson achieved the feat just over a week ago, on March 30 against the Boston Bruins.
With just six games remaining on the season, the Caps are trying to steer themselves out of a five-game slide (0-4-1) that has imperiled their playoff possibilities. Washington’s last win was a 4-3 overtime victory over the Detroit Red Wings here on March 26. After the Caps picked up a point in a shootout loss in that March 30 game against Boston, they were actually in third place in the Metropolitan Division standings. But as they get set to take on the Senators on Sunday, the Caps are on the outside and looking in on the playoff picture, and they’re in need of a string of wins to right the ship.
Most recently, the Caps dropped an excruciating 4-2 decision to the Hurricanes in Carolina on Friday night in Raleigh, a game in which Washington spent most of the night under siege in its own end of the ice, yet still found itself in a 2-2 tie late in the third period, with a chance to end its slide or at least to pick up a point. But a late hooking call on Caps’ defenseman Rasmus Sandin gave Carolina a late power play, and the Canes’ Sebastian Aho netted a power-play goal – the Canes’ second of the period – to give his team the victory.
Starting for the first time in two weeks – since Carolina chased him to the bench after two periods in a 7-6 Washington shootout victory on March 22 – Darcy Kuemper stopped 43 of 46 shots in a staunch but losing effort. Kuemper stopped 33 of 34 shots and Washington skaters blocked 19 shots in front of him to give the Caps an opportunity to pull points, but instead, their slide stretched to five straight.
“He played really well,” says Caps’ right wing Tom Wilson of Kuemper. “He was great positionally; a lot of stuff was hitting him. He made some huge saves, and he covered our asses on a lot of [defensive] zone stuff. They put a lot of pucks to the net; we knew that was their game plan; it’s a tough building to play in.
“It was just a tough ending. I think you could see the emotion in the game. It’s not very often there is two minutes left in the game, and that sort of call is made. So I think that’s why our team was frustrated, but I’m proud of how the guys battled all night.
While the Caps were idle on Saturday, Pittsburgh vaulted past them, dropping them to 10th place in the Eastern Conference standings, a point behind Philadelphia, which is also in the midst of a protracted slide. With a 6-0-2 mark in their last eight games, the Penguins now occupy the second wild card slot, also a point ahead of Washington.
With four straight victories, the New York Islanders have muscled their way into third place in the Metropolitan Division standings, three points ahead of the Capitals. In the midst of a grueling stretch of nine games in 15 nights to close out the campaign, and coming off just their second set of back-to-backs – in 14 such sets this season – without earning a point, the Caps had a scheduled day off on Saturday.
“There’s no time to feel sorry for ourselves,” says Wilson. “We’ve got to pick ourselves up here. Every point matters; so we’ve got to get back to work.”
Ottawa is on the verge of a seventh straight season outside the playoff picture. The Sens’.461 points percentage is tied with Montreal for sixth worst in the circuit. The Caps and Senators have split a pair of lopsided meetings earlier in the season, with the Sens prevailing in a 6-1 romp in Ottawa on Oct. 18 and the Caps returning the favor in a 6-3 victory here in the District on Feb. 26.
The Senators reeled off a five-game winning streak to close out March, but like the Capitals, the Sens are thus far winless in April (0-3-0). Most recently, the Sens dropped a 4-3 decision on home ice to the New Jersey Devils on Saturday night.
Starting with Sunday’s game in the District, the Sens will play five of their last six games on the road to close out 2023-24. Sunday’s game in the opener of a three-game road trip for Ottawa, which will travel on to Florida and Tampa Bay, respectively, after departing the District.
